Global Trade Union Task Force on Development Alternatives
The Cornell Global Labor Institute has convened a 25-person Global Trade Union Task Force on Development Alternatives. For more information, view the "ILR Global Labor Institute Receives Grant" article and the Global Unions Conference flier. 
The goal of the Task Force will be to produce a report that articulates an internationalist, sustainable and needs-driven development framework from a North-South labor perspective. The first phase of the project was completed in December 2006. The second phase runs January through December 2007.
The Task Force consists of union leaders and/or thinkers from Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.
Why a Global Trade Union Task Force?
Unions have been vocal and visible in their opposition to the neoliberal framework, and have proposed alternative policies around a range of issues and concerns while stressing enforceable workers?€™ rights as a core requirement. But few would claim that international labor has a clear, coherent and compelling vision of what kind of world it wants or considers possible. More thinking needs to be done on getting the right macroeconomic environment to promote equitable development and ultimately eliminate poverty, on the distributive as well as redistributive role of the state, and on how to deal with the political and economic implications of the growing concentration of capital in the form of the large multinationals and institutional investors. The main goal of the Task Force will be to offer an alternative framework from a union perspective that builds on the growing consensus across the international labor movement on key issues, while at the same time considering fresh perspectives and policies.
While no collection of individuals can come up with all the answers, the coming together of labor-based thinkers from both North and South can make an important contribution to the debates going on within our unions and between labor and other social movements.
Task Force Members
Ademir Figueiredo, Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Sócio-Econômicos (DIEESE), Brazil
Anabela Rosemberg, Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC), France
Ashim Roy, New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI), India
Bertha Lujan, Frente Auténtico del Trabajo (FAT), Mexico
Bheki Ntshalintshali, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), South Africa
Carol Philips, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), Canada
Dan Gallin, Global Labour Institute-Geneva (GLI), Geneva
David Abdullah, the Chief Education Officer of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union and Leader of Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs, Trinidad and Tobago
David Hall, Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), UK
David Spooner, International Association of Workers' Education Associations (IFWEA), Global
Dita Sari, Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI), Indonesia
Eliseo Medina, Service Employees International Union, United States
Elizabeth Tang, Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), Hong Kong
Estela Diaz, Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA), Argentina
Joaquín Nieto Sáinz, Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO), Spain
Jose Bove, La Via Campesina (LVC), France
Josua Mata, General Secretary of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Philippines
Kirill Buketov, International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (IUF), Russia
Kumagai Kenichi, Japanese Trade Union Federation (JTUC-RENGO), Japan
Mark Levinson, UNITE HERE!, United States
Mirai Chatterjee, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India
Neva Makgetla, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), South Africa
Oscar Olivera, Federación de Trabajadores Fabriles de Cochabamba (FTFC), Bolivia
Patricia Horn, Streetnet, South Africa
Renana Jhabvala, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India
Robert Lambert, Western Australia Trades & Labor Council, Australia
Ron Blackwell, American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), United States
Svetla Karova, Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CITU), Bulgaria
